Hands of Fate
by beccyorange
Summary: Slight AU: In a world where your soulmates first initial is written on the back of your hand, Dean is pulled from hell with a letter 'C' on his hand, where he never had a letter before. Basically follows the same plot as the show. Eventual Destiel. I suck at summaries. T for now.
1. Chapter 1

It was hot, almost painfully so, and the large pack of angels didn't make it any cooler as they flew into hell.

"Get Dean Winchester" was their orders and they would follow them.

It was hard to locate him, in the fire and torture and screams, it was disorientating, to say the least.

The flaps of wings seemed to grow quieter as more and more angels fell behind, slowing down or stopping completely, but Castiel was never one to give up that easily.

He was loyal to the end, and that may have been one of his weaknesses.

He flew ahead of the group, his wings flapping loudly, trying to push forward before the heat got too overwhelming.

Eyes searched for one human in particular, just one, out of hundreds of others who wished to be pulled out of here. Dean was all he needed to get, that was his orders and he would follow them.

He could feel his wings burning slightly as he got further and further down and he doubts that they will ever be the glorious white ever again. Maybe that's why all the other angels have slowed and stopped following, but he doesn't ponder on that thought, and he doesn't ponder on the thought of stopping as well. He can't afford to. He's come so far now.

Then he spots him, well, he hears him first, and he doubles his speed and is definite his wings will never be the same pure white again, but he doesn't mind.

He closes in on the human and reaches out. His hand grabs onto Deans arm, burning him, imprinting him and leaving a permanent scar and pulls him out of hell.

* * *

Dean gasps for air as he pulls himself out of the ground and looks around. Trees are lying flat, circling around where he dug himself out of.

He starts to walk, and it seems to go on forever, and he doesn't pass any form of civilization, except for a small building in the far distance.

"_It's still better than Hell_" he thinks grimly as he smiles and keeps walking, suddenly aware of how much he needs to drink, and wonders how ironic it would be if he died of dehydration just after being somehow raised from hell. He laughs loudly.

After reaching the small building, which turns out to be a gas station and getting a well needed drink of water, he looks at himself in the mirror.

No marks from the hell hounds no rips and tears of skin, in fact, his skin looks new and clean and not damaged. Except for the large hand print burn on his left arm of course.

There is one more difference however; on the back of his right hand is a letter_ 'C',_ written in an elegant script and it wasn't there before. He had never had a letter on the back of his hand, he was different than every other human who walked the Earth, he had never had a letter with the initial of his soul mate or whoever he would end up with, but now he did. He didn't like having the letter, it made too much definite, because if that letter wasn't there, he could avoid the whole affair, but now he couldn't. It

Two short phone calls later he's stealing a car, just like the good old days. Sam didn't answer his phone and Bobby didn't believe it was him, but then again if the roles were reversed he would do the same, because even for him and the creepy shit he's seen, this takes the cake.

* * *

Knocks on the door radiated through Bobby's house so he goes to answer it.

And his eyes must be lying to him, his age must be getting to him because there is no way that can actually be Dean Winchester standing in front of him, because he_ died_, was ripped to shreds and cannot actually be standing right in front of him in his front doorway.

After an incident with a silver knife and holy water, it is discovered it actually is Dean and they track Sam down, pull him away from a girl and go to Pamela's house.

All he wants to know is what and who pulled him out of hell and why.

"What's that on your hand?" Sam had asked after a few minutes.

Dean glanced up from looking at it "The letter C."

"So you actually have a letter now?"

"Seems like it" Dean replied as he looked at it again.

He also wanted to know who this letter stood for, and why it was only there now.

Pamela called a séance to contact the thing that pulled Dean out.

"I'm sorry Castiel, I don't scare easy" she had said, moments before her eyes burnt out.

Dean put it down to coincidence that the things name was Castiel, but Dean never had much luck with coincidences. He put the sudden tingling in his hand down to coincidence as well, or to his imagination.

A book was spread across Dean's lap, and he was studying it, learning about the letters on the back of people's hands.

_"Human kind has always had letters in the back of their hands and no-one knows why they are there. Some say it is the work of God, so the human race can continue to thrive throughout the millennia"_

Dean laughs a bit, there is no such thing as God, if there was he should be intervening in all of these deaths and demons. He continues reading

_"Some people choose to follow the letter, and spend their life searching for their 'soul mate', others opt to ignore it and continue life as usual._

_The only way to truly know if you are in the presence of your 'soul mate' is if your hand starts to tingle"_

Dean fell asleep somewhere around this point, and woke up shortly after with the book on the ground.

"It's a bunch of crap. All this fate and destiny and soul mates." He thought angrily "It was better before I had this stupid letter" he grumbled as he fell asleep again.

His mind still believed that the séance and 'Castiel' was all a coincidence.

* * *

**A/N: This is just an idea that I've had in my head for a while, now this chapter may not have made much sense in terms of plot so let me outline:**

**In this AU, humans have a letter imprinted in the back of their right hand that is the first letter of the first name of their "soul mate". Dean for some reason that I can't disclose yet because spoilers, didn't have one until he was dragged out of hell.**

**There is a bit more information about that whole thing that will be explained in later chapters.**

**Please tell me what you think**


	2. His Hand Bleeds

_It burns, it burns, and it's much too hot right now for a human to withstand. How am I still alive when this is happening it feels like my insides are burning and screaming. This is not what I expected. I am Jimmy Novak, I am Jimmy Novak, I am Jimm-. I am no longer just Jimmy Novak._

_I am Castiel, I am an angel of the lord, I pulled Dean Winchester from Perdition. I am Castiel in Jimmy Novak's body. He is my vessel. I am Castiel and my hand burns._

Castiel glances at his hand to have a look at it, maybe his vessel can't sustain him after all, but there is no sign of any marks or burns. Maybe it was his imagination.

Then it flares up again, burning burning burning red hot, hotter than hell in a concentrated spot and it burns and Castiel clenches his teeth as beads of blood trickle out of his skin.

'_This must be pain_' he thinks, and he decides he doesn't like it.

More blood starts trickling out, and he tries to heal it, and every time he does it just opens up again and he stops and lets it bleed.

It's a few short minutes later when the blood slows down the speed of it leaking out of the back of his hand and when it finally comes to a stop he cleans it up instantaneously.

He blinks a few times in shock '_This is not right_' he thinks '_This is not what happens to angels. Angels do not get marked like this. I am Castiel and I am an angel and that should not be on my hand_'.

A messily scrawled letter _'D'_ is carved into the back of his hand, and it is an angry red colour, a fresh mark and then he realises that that must be the reason babies cry when they are born. It stings faintly but he pays no more attention to it. He has a mission and he must do it and get it over and done with so he can go back.

He must avert the Apocalypse, he must help stop the Apocalypse and suddenly, in this frail human body it seems like such a daunting task.

The _'D_' on his hand throbs.

* * *

Dean and Bobby did a mental checklist as they painted the various sigils on the walls, and as they prepped each and every weapon they had brought with them, there was no way to say what had brought Dean back, but whatever it was must've been incredibly strong, or incredibly evil, or both.

They eventually lost count of all the sigils and they sat there together in silence.

"Are you sure you did the ritual right?" Dean asked, he was the first to speak because he wanted nothing more than to see what had raised him, and then he wanted to kill it.

Bobby gave him a look, and Dean dropped the topic.

Dean was starting to get sceptical and he wondered if something was even going to show up. He put down the knife, and his hands ached for it back. He ached to kill something, specifically the thing that brought him back. His hands twitched involuntarily and Bobby raised his eyebrows when he noticed the '_C_' on the back of Dean's hand.

Bobby went to open his mouth to ask what that was, and Dean readied some snappy retort, but there was no need for it in the end.

The wind picks up and hits the small shed that they're in, the metal creaks and groans and the roof flaps around in the wind as though it's a sheet of tissue paper.

Dean hopes it's a coincidence, but the soft tingling in his hand that grows stronger tells him otherwise.

The lights blow in the building, one after another and the tingling grows stronger yet and he ignores it still. Then the door opens itself and the tingling continues to grow more intense.

Dean and Bobby prepare for the worst, for a horrible demon or something of the sort.

They don't expect to see a man in a dirty old trench coat that just reeks of innocence.

* * *

Castiel looks around, ignoring the tingling from his hand.

He notices the '_C_' written on the back of Dean's hand in his own handwriting, or at least Jimmy's handwriting.

He decides he only has the letter there because he pulled Dean Winchester out of perdition, he made a claim to him, he is his responsibility and his only, and he was put to the task of pointing him in the right direction to stop the apocalypse.

He repeats that in his head so much he starts to believe it. He_ wants_ to believe it.

As he looks at the walls, he recognises the sigils and smiles, because of the looks on the two human's faces.

He walks straight forward still, ignoring the lights exploding and the guns pointed at him.

There is a dull pain in his chest after a gunshot is heard. Castiel almost laughs. He is shot three more times, before the other two men look at each other. Those four shots should have him on the floor, bleeding out or dead by now.

Then he circles around to face Dean.

His hand still tingles.

* * *

Dean picks up the knife, because he is determined to kill this thing, and if four shots couldn't do it, then this knife better or they have to resort to another plan.

The man faces Dean with a slight smile on his face, and it looks quite endearing.

"Who are you?" Dean asks, but he already knows. He's 'Castiel', he has to be. His tingling hand only strengthens that belief.

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition" the thing replied, and holy hell Dean was not expecting that voice

"Thanks for that" Dean replied and the thing, Castiel, smiled.

It was a twisted sort of smile, not one Dean thought he ever wanted to see again.

He spun slightly, and stabbed the knife in, down to the hilt, the blade all the way into its chest. He waited for it to work.

After a few seconds of pushing the knife, Dean stepped back, and watched in shock as the thing pulled the knife out of its chest, smiled its' twisted smile at Dean again and dropped the knife on the floor.

Dean looks at Bobby who starts to swing at its' head, but it raises its' arm, grabs the bar and places two fingers to Bobby's forehead, causing him to fall to the floor.

Dean can't help but stare at the things hand that has the letter _'D_' on the back of it, written in his own handwriting.

"We need to talk Dean, alone" the thing says.

Dean checks on Bobby, because if Bobby was dead Dean would find a way to kill this thing for good.

"Who are you?" Dean asks again, wanting a name, hoping it isn't 'Castiel'.

"Castiel" it replies, and Dean groans._ Of course it is_

"Yeah I figured that much" Dean says and looks at both of their hands "I mean what are you?"

Castiel,_ -Dean decides he should start referring to it in his head by its name, now that he knows for certain what it is-_ looks up from what he's looking at and stares at Dean.

"I'm an angel of the lord"

Well that wasn't the reply he was expecting, maybe the devil or a top demon or something, anything rotten and evil. Not an angel. Dean's eyes flicker to the angels hand again.

Dean rises from the floor, because that thing must be lying, because Angels don't exist and God doesn't exist because if he did he wouldn't let all these people die, he wouldn't let these demons take innocent people.

"Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing"

"This is your problem Dean, you have no faith" and Castiel stares at him still, his blue eyes not moving from his own as the angel watches Deans every reaction, because Castiel needs Dean to get along with him.

Castiel can tell that Dean doesn't believe, and he always thought that Dean wouldn't.

So he makes a bolt of lightning light up the room, and project an image of his wings on the wall as his wings open up and Dean stares at them in disbelief.

"Next time, lower the volume buddy" Dean says about the angel's voice when he broke the glass before, and Castiel looks slightly ashamed in a slightly adorable sort of way.

Dean mentally kicks himself for thinking the angel was adorable.

"Why would an angel rescue me from hell?" Dean asks, and Castiel steps forward.

Its obvious Castiel never learnt about personal space because he stands far too close for someone, something he just met.

"What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved?" Castiel asks as he angles his head and it's obvious by Deans face he struck a nerve.

Dean opens his mouth to reply, but Castiel has gone and all he can hear is a faint flapping of wings.

His hand stops tingling, and far away, so does Castiels.

* * *

**A/N: I just want to say thank for for the reviews and follows! It means the world to me!**

**I think I may update this weekly, or every two weeks.**

**I may have written this a little differently than my other chapter, but I'm just trying it for now.**

**And comments, please leave a review, or send me an ask on tumblr I'm sassyangelcastiel and I'm open for drabble prompts!**


	3. He Who Does Not Believe

Dean stood there and stared at Bobby's unconscious body lying on the floor, his thoughts were a jumbled mess of voices and thoughts and memories swirled together into one thing.

"No no no no no that thing must be lying because I am Dean Winchester and I have been to hell and I have killed and tortured and enjoyed it and there is no way in hell that a stinking angel pulled me from hell. I do not deserve the salvation, I deserved to stay down there burning and boiling and torturing for the rest of eternity" he thought madly, not yet ready to admit to himself that enjoyed the feeling of torturing all the other souls down there, not yet ready to admit to himself that maybe he shouldn't be let out because he, he had tortured souls and enjoyed it. He had been weak and couldn't stand up against Lucifer and his father would've been disappointed. Sam would be disappointed.

He ran his hands through his hair and fell into a rhythm of scratching the back of his hand, checking on Bobby to make sure he was still breathing, running his hands through his hair again because glancing at the back of hand. He repeated this so many times he lost count and his hand started to bleed from all the scratching and still Bobby hadn't awoken.

Xxx

Castiel fell to the rocky ground onto his knees. He didn't know exactly where he was but he knew it wasn't far away from where he had left. It was raining now as well, and he found the rain soothing.

The gravel and stones hurt his knees through his pants and the rain that fell at a steady rate stuck his hair down to the side of his face and soaked his trench coat.

He bent his head down and shut his eyes in a silent prayer. It was such a human thing to do, but Castiel wanted to try it anyway, he could communicate with the angels without having to do this, but right now he didn't want to speak to his brothers and sisters. He wished to speak to his father; he wanted to ask about the mark on the back of his hand and why Dean Winchester only had one now.

He remembered when a Cupid came and told him that there was a problem with one of the humans, that he didn't have a soul mate and Castiel had simply replied "He will get one in time" as he looked down upon the small baby with the green eyes. He didn't realise that he would inadvertently watch over Dean Winchester every day of the remainder of his life.

There was no reply and everything was an eerie quiet except for the rain falling from the sky. Jimmy was silent inside Castiels head as well; sometimes he could hear Jimmy talking but this time the human's voice had fallen silent. There was no one to help Castiel.

He stood up quickly and patted the rocks and stones off his pants and his trench coat was heavy with the rain as he turned around a few times. He watched a car drive past and shoved his tingling hand into his pocket.

Xxx

Bobby let out a low groan from the floor as he finally woke. He couldn't remember how he got on the floor exactly. He could remember a man in a trench coat and the lights exploding and four gunshots, a knife and then two fingers on his forehead before the world had gone black.

"What in the world have I missed?" he called out to Dean, who had his back to him. He coughed once.

Dean turned around quickly, leaving his thoughts for another day "Long story. I'll explain when we get back so I don't have to repeat it for Sam" he said as he started to walk out the door. Bobby followed behind him, collecting the weapons they had brought with them, all except for Ruby's knife; Dean had that tightly gripped in his hand.

The car sped back, having to slow down when it started to rain out of nowhere. As they drove past a small dilapidated house with a figure standing in front of it, staring at the sky, Dean's hand started to tingle and he fought the urge to stab something.

Xxx

"He said he was an angel? Are you sure Dean?" Sam had asked in disbelief, raising both his eyebrows.

Dean lifted his head from the table he had been resting on "Yes I'm sure" he replied.

"He said he was an 'angel of the lord'" Dean said, imitating the angel's voice with the last four words. "I think it was lying though, I mean, angels can't exist. God and Angels and Heaven can't exist, because if it did why hasn't it intervened with the demons down here?"

Bobby looked up from the book he was reading "I hate to tell you this Dean, but it could have actually been an angel"

Dean turned away from Sam to stare at Bobby with an eyebrow raised.

"In this book, it does say that angels are one of the only things capable of pulling people out of hell" Bobby said, pointing to the paragraph that said that "Not only that, but it would explain why nothing worked on killing it."

"What exactly did you use to try to kill it?"

"We had all the signs and spells done, and then when he showed up we shot him four times in the chest, that didn't do anything so I stabbed him with Ruby's knife, which he just pulled out then threw it to the floor. Bobby went to hit him but he put Bobby to sleep somehow before he could hit him".

"Wow. It might actually be an angel after all Dean" Sam said

Xxx

Castiel rubbed his chest, and pulled strands of material out of his tattered shirt and coat, it was a shame, he was just starting to get used to the trench coat, and even if it was soaking wet and had holes in it. He placed his hands over the holes as they were fixed, good as new, as though nothing had happened and he swore he could've heard Jimmy make a happy noise inside his head.

Humans puzzled him.

Xxx

Finally Dean had been able to fall asleep and he didn't have to listen to questions about the events in the building, or listen to discussions about how angels may actually be real, because by know he believed that this thing was an angel, Bobby had given him enough proof by now.

He thought he could escape it all. He didn't have to think about all the spirits of people he had already killed reappearing anymore, because they were gone. It was okay again; about as good as okay it can get for him at least.

Dean woke up halfway through his sleep, and things just didn't feel…right.

He looked around and saw a figure in a trench coat in the kitchen, leaning against the sink

'Son of a bitch' he thought, before checking to make sure Sam and Bobby were okay.

He stood up and slowly walked over to Castiel, ignoring the tingling in his hand as he got closer and he wondered how people had put up with this their whole lives.

"I thought angels were meant to be guardians? With fluffy white wings and halos?" Dean had asked "Not dicks"

He would've sworn on his life that he didn't find the face Castiel made just a little bit adorable, but he was a liar after all, but he would never admit to anyone else that he did think it was adorable.

"Read the bible, angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier"

Dean almost laughed at that because the body in front of him did not look like a soldier.

Maybe, just maybe it was a bad idea to start a slightly religious argument with an angel who Dean didn't yet know how to kill; he probably shouldn't have said "If there is a God". He did anyway, and he didn't get killed, which was good.

Dean kept on talking about what would it take for God to lift his damn finger and help out a little, he needed to say all of this, and it wasn't the smartest thing to say it to an angel but he did it anyway.

Then he listened, while Castiel explained the 66 Seals and tried his hardest to ignore how Castiel would absentmindedly scratch the back of his hand, and how his own hand tingled continuously.

* * *

**A/N: So sorry for not updating last week, I had exams that week, but I'm okay now, and I shall hopefully be posting each week, or two.**

**I love to get reviews and favourites, and if you wish to send me a prompt for a story send me an ask on tumblr, I changed my url I'm now cassnovaks**

**Peace out, I love you all so much**

**xx**


End file.
